Japanese Patent No. 5107170 discloses a known vehicle door lock apparatus that includes a base member, a fork, a pawl, an open lever, and a closing mechanism.
The base member is provided in a door and includes an entry opening configured to receive a striker fixed to a vehicle body. The fork is provided in the base member. The fork is displaceable to a latched position, where the fork locks the striker on the depth side of the entry opening, to a half latched position, where the fork locks the striker halfway in the entry opening, and to an unlatched position where the fork does not lock the striker in the entry opening. The pawl is provided in the base member. The pawl is capable of fixing or allowing the displacement of the fork. The open lever is pivotably supported about a first axis by the base member. The open lever acts on the pawl in connection with an opening operation of a door handle and allows the displacement of the fork. The closing mechanism acts on the fork when the fork is disposed in the half latched position and displaces the fork to the latched position.
More specifically, the locking mechanism includes a driving source, a pivoting body, a close lever, a transmitting member, and a cancel lever. The driving source generates a driving force. The pivoting body is pivotably supported by the base member about a second axis parallel to the first axis. When the fork is disposed in the half latched position, the pivoting body is driven by the driving source to pivot. The close lever is pivotably supported by the pivoting body about a third axis that is coaxial with the second axis. The transmitting member is provided in the pivoting body. The transmitting member is displaceable between an engaging position, where the transmitting member engages with the close lever and regulates relative displacement of the close lever and the pivoting body, and a releasing position where the close lever stops engaging with the close lever and allows the relative displacement of the close lever and the pivoting body. The cancel lever and the open lever are one (integral) member. The cancel lever pivots integrally with the open lever in connection with the opening operation of the door handle and displaces the transmitting member from the engaging position to the releasing position.
In this known vehicle door lock apparatus, when the fork is displaced from the unlatched position to the half latched position while the door is closed, the closing mechanism operates and the pivoting body is driven by the driving source to pivot. At that point, if the opening operation for the door handle is not performed, the cancel lever does not pivot and the transmitting member is disposed in the engaging position. Therefore, since the transmitting member regulates the relative displacement of the close lever and the pivoting body, the close lever comes into contact with the fork disposed in the half latched position through the pivoting of the pivoting body and displaces the fork to the latched position. In this way, it is possible to automatically close the door by using the known vehicle door lock apparatus.
On the other hand, when the opening operation for the door handle is performed while the closing mechanism operates to close the door and displaces the fork from the half latched position to the latched position, the cancel lever pivots in connection with the opening operation and displaces the transmitting member to the releasing position. Therefore, since the transmitting member allows the relative displacement of the close lever and the pivoting body, the close lever stops coming into contact with the fork irrespective of the pivoting of the pivoting body. As a result, the known vehicle door lock apparatus makes it possible to stop the operation for closing the door by the closing mechanism.